Dodgers will sign Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero

Ending several months of courtship, the Dodgers and Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero agreed on a 4-year, $28 million contract.

The deal, which was still pending the approval of Major League Baseball Monday night, includes a $10 million signing bonus and can grow to $33 million if Guerrero reaches certain incentives based on number of plate appearances.

Guerrero, 26, gained a reputation as a power hitter in Cuba despite his small frame (listed at 5-foot-10, 200 pounds). He had a .302 batting average in eight national tournaments and batted .290 with 21 home runs for Las Tunas in his final full season in Serie Nacional, Cuba’s top league.

In the most recent Serie Nacional postseason, Guerrero hit .240/.296/.480 with one home run and five RBIs. That was more than a year ago, however, and there’s some question about how he might respond to the time off.

“He hasn’t played of late, somewhat like (Yasiel) Puig and somewhat different than (Hyun-Jin) Ryu,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. “But he’s a big-league player. He’s a big league infielder that has versatility to him, as far as positions that he can play. He’s an offensive player.”

It’s also unclear how Guerrero’s numbers would translate to the major leagues and some observers have questioned whether he is ready for a full-time major league job. He projects as a second baseman, which doesn’t bode well for veteran Mark Ellis if Guerrero is ready to take over at the position.

The Dodgers hold an option for 2014 on Ellis for $5.75 million. They can also can exercise a $1 million buyout in Ellis’ contract, although Colletti left the door open for both players next season.

“I think Mark Ellis did a tremendous job here,” Colletti said. “I think Mark Ellis still has value to this organization, with or without Guerrero here.”

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Ellis, 36, is a lifetime .265/.330/.390 hitter who has carved out an 11-year major-league career mostly with his glove. His .9907 fielding percentage as a second baseman is fifth all-time.

The Dodgers would like Guerrero to play in one of the Caribbean Winter Leagues. Guerrero hasn’t decided whether or not he will. If he does, the club should have a better idea of whether Guerrero is ready to be an every-day second baseman after spending the past two months training in the Dominican Republic.

“Bob Engle was the lead scout on Alexander and he thinks that he can play, if not right away, then very, very soon thereafter,” Colletti said.

Kemp undergoes surgery

Center fielder Matt Kemp underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle, performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina.

According to the Dodgers, the procedure involved removing several spurs, a loose body and doing a microfracture on the talus bone. Kemp will be in a splint for two weeks and a non-weight bearing boot for an additional two weeks. He is expected to be competitive in time for the regular season.

Colletti said shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who suffered a hairline fracture in his rib during the NLCS, and outfielder Andre Ethier, who played through shin splints that affected his left ankle in October, will not need surgery.

Kemp also had surgery to clean up the AC joint in his left shoulder on Oct. 8.

Pitchers Chad Billingsley (Tommy John surgery) and Josh Beckett (thoracic outlet surgery) are on track in their recoveries, Colletti said.

Falsone won’t return

Head athletic trainer Sue Falsone will not return to the Dodgers in 2014.

Falsone, who joined the team as the first female head athletic trainer in major professional sports last year, wrote on her Twitter account that she intends to “pursue other opportunities within my career.”

Though Ramirez recently praised her staff for its work in helping him recover from a back injury, Falsone was sometimes criticized by fans for the Dodgers’ spate of injuries the last two years.

Seventeen different major-league players spent time on the Dodgers’ disabled list in 2013, including four players more than once. In 2012, only four teams lost more DL time than the Dodgers, according to data compiled by the website FanGraphs.com.

Colletti listed his players’ health among the team’s top priorities.

“As much as anything this off-season, we need to get healthy,” he said.

Also ...

Other than signing pitcher Clayton Kershaw to a long-term contract, the Dodgers’ off-season wish list won’t include as many large-scale acquisitions as it did a year ago. “We need to have comeback years from a handful of kids,” Colletti said. “We still have holes to fill and things that we have to shore up. We’re going to probably need to get younger in some areas.” ... Manager Don Mattingly did not say how he would approach playing time in the outfield if Kemp, Ethier, Puig and Carl Crawford are all healthy next season. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, as far as number of games, how do you mix and match,” he said. ... No decisions have been formally announced concerning the Dodgers’ 2014 coaching staff, but Mattingly said he would like the staff to return intact. ... Puig isn’t expected to play in the winter leagues.